Smile
by Mr. Shishio
Summary: Tifa contemplates skyscrapers, mountain air, and raindrops. Sometimes, just having someone there for you helps.  Post Advent Children.


Originally for 10lilies, a femmeslash community on livejournal. My claim there is Tifa, so expect a strange influx of Tifa-slash over the next ... while. The theme was #2, raincloud. ...I seem to have this inability to right real fluff, especially in drabbles, because I hate dropping the reader into a relationship -- especially if it's kind-of a crack-pairing -- without first explaining how it came to be. Which means none of my drabbles for this community will probably be very slashy. I'm working on that, though. Hopefully you all will see some kind of progress in these... 

And if you're wondering where the hell chapter 3 of Lighthouse is, I'm typing it this weekend. It just needs some revision and a beta-read.

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Tifa had always been a city girl at heart. Even before, in Nibelheim, she'd felt like she was drowning in the weight of the wide open skies and the quiet of the sleepy little town. So she'd been drawn to Mt. Nibel. The tall spires of rock broke up the sky, and the caves and tunnels provided familiar paths. She'd felt at home there, leading travelers through caves and switchbacks, slowly snaking their way up to stand amongst the peaks. And there would always be company for her, whether in her traveling parties or in the birds and deer that hid themselves in the mountains, occasionally appearing when she wandered up alone. 

Perhaps that was why she'd taken to Midgar so well, and after everything, returned to make her home in Edge. Walls and skyscrapers weren't much different than man-made mountains, really, providing a fortress of support for the town within. Twisting alleys were just like mountain trails, and no city was ever completely devoid of life. While some might have felt lost without a clear view of the sky, Tifa could try to smile as long as she felt she was never truly alone.

So on lonely days, when Cloud was gone making deliveries, and Denzel and Marlene didn't need looking after, when Seventh Heaven was having a slow day and the silence of the empty bar was getting oppressive, Tifa would close early and head outside for a walk. Sometimes she went exploring, mapping out streets and alleys like she used to do with mountain trails. Sometimes she'd shop, or pay a neighbor a visit. And sometimes she just needed to sit outside on a curb, close her eyes, and listen to the sounds of life as they passed by her. The chatter of pedestrians. The chug of a steam truck. The mad laughter of children running by. And then, when she went back home, it made smiling for Marlene and Denzel just a little bit easier.

Today had been a lonely day. After checking on Marlene and Denzel, Tifa had closed the bar and slipped out onto the streets, without so much as a backward glance to the clouds gathering above her head. She'd walked aimlessly for a few blocks, checking a sale at the weapons shop. She stepped out onto the street outside and the usual crowd bustled and flowed around her like a river, and a steam truck honked its horn. And she felt herself smile just a little, losing herself in the sounds of humanity around her. Until she felt the first drops of rain.

Tifa's eyes snapped open.

At first it was just a small pitter-patter. But there was nothing like a rain in Edge to remind her of where she was and how she'd come to be there. Because there was one way that cities _weren't_ like mountains, and it all came down to the rain. Up on Mt. Nibel, she remembered, raindrops had felt cleansing, and after a rain, everything smelled fresh and new and _green._ Oh, things had been green after the rains in Midgar. Poison green. _Mako_ green, when it had rained at all. And here in Edge -- as the sky blackened and thunderheads rolled in, and the townspeople scattered, unfurling umbrellas, leaving the streets empty and lifeless -- here in the rain Tifa felt the weight of sorrow, suffering, and pain. Rain in Edge was like tears, because Edge, really, was _built_ out of suffering, though just like Tifa, the people smiled on the streets and rewound their lives to project themselves where they'd been before Meteorfall. And as the thunderclouds burst above her head, and the rain poured down in torrents, Tifa found she couldn't tell whether it was tears or raindrops rolling down her face. And she found herself sitting down under the memorial in the center of the city, staring up at the sky, thinking about life and death and how things _should_ have been. And then, knowing --maybe taking comfort in the knowledge-- that she _was_ alone, Tifa buried her face in her knees and cried.

She sat like that for a while, staring back at the sky, rain dripping down her cheeks once the tears stopped flowing, feeling just how different Edge was from the mountain air of her childhood, and just how much she'd grown up since then, and just how much she could never get back. Then she heard a voice ring out across the city center.

"H-Hey! …Tifa!"

Her gaze flicked to the road where she saw a pink umbrella bobbing towards her. Tifa's eyes traveled down to the figure holding the umbrella: a slight blonde woman clad in a slick business suit, staring down at her with concern in her wide brown eyes.

"It… It _is_ Tifa, right?"

Tifa nodded, taking a deep, shuddering breath.

"You… probably don't remember me – Elena," the blonde explained.

_Elena of the Turks_, Tifa's mind supplied, and she couldn't help but narrow her eyes in suspicion.

"Eh… Of course you do…" Elena corrected herself. "Well, all of that's behind us now, after… everything…" She trailed off nervously, shifting from foot to foot under Tifa's gaze. Noticing her discomfort, Tifa tried to soften her glare.

Suddenly, Elena offered her a hand. "Do you wanna… get out of the rain?" Tifa stared blankly from the proffered hand to the innocent hopefulness in Elena's eyes.

"You just looked kind-of wet down there," Elena mumbled. "And I've got an umbrella, so…"

Seeing no harm in it, Tifa took the young Turk's hand and was lifted to her feet. Elena smiled shyly and held out the umbrella so it offered both of them a little shelter from the rain.

"Thanks," Tifa told her, and as they started walking back towards Seventh Heaven, she watched Elena's smile split into a grin.

"You know," she began, "I'm really glad we're on the same side now."

And as naïve as that statement was, or perhaps because of it, Tifa felt something flutter in her heart, and she couldn't help but feel herself smiling, too.

"Me too," she said. "Me too."

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Whether you believe it or not, reviews actually help me to know whether a story is crap or not. So please let know what you think. 


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